I wonder if Lindsay Lohan will be the next young, talented, addicted, seriously ill, celebrity, to die of her still untreated illness? Addiction is treatable. If left untreated, it gets worse, not better. And, if left untreated, it is fatal.
I wonder how high the price of gold (measured in US dollars) will go in what is left of 2011 and into 2012? I wonder when a country will decide to make its currency convertible into a hard "monetary" asset like gold or silver or, possibly, oil?
I wonder if a decision like that would move the US dollar further and further away from being the world's reserve currency? I wonder, if the price of gold gets much higher, if the US government will begin to make statements like this: "there is too much speculation in the precious metals markets, and we believe it is leading to a distortion in the markets and in the value of the dollar. We will continue to monitor this situation closely." I wonder if this will then be the beginning of another move by the US government to consider the confiscation of gold (and silver) from investors in those safe haven assets? (Gold hit an all time high of $1660.00 today, 8/3/2011; I wrote the draft of this blog on 7/27/2011...hmmm).
I wonder how soon after this temporary debt deal has been approved and signed into law (in order to buy everyone a little more time to delay the inevitable, a significant budget deal where cuts and comprehensive tax reform will occur) the Obama administration will move forward with its next big initiative: comprehensive immigration reform. I wonder if anyone else sees a link between our unwillingness to deal with this issue (because it is messy, uncomfortable and will confront all of the unspoken racism, classism, ageism, and other "isms" lurking around those with unearned privilege) and our collective unwillingness to make a comprehensive deal on future US (and state) budgets? I wonder a lot about that.
